Investigators said Troy Daniel Long, 25, of Bellflower, Calif., entered the main office at Compton Airport, threatened the employees there with a gun and walked away with airplane plane keys, the Los Angeles Times reported.

According to publication, Long climbed into a 2-seat Cessna 152 airplane and started the engine, but was confronted by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies on the tarmac.

"They saw a man in a plane with the engine revving, the propeller spinning and the plane was lurching and bucking against a chain attached to the rear of the plane from the tarmac," Capt. Mike Parker told the Times. "Their guns pointed at the suspect, they tried to yell over the sound of the engine for the suspect to shut down the engine and waved their arms for him to surrender. Eventually he shut off the plane, took off the headset and surrendered."

Long was charged by the FBI with suspicion of aircraft piracy and taken to the Federal Metropolitan Detention Center.

Officials did not know how far into his flight training Long was at the time of his arrest.